Archives

Posts Tagged ‘ Goths ’

I’ve never been to a Mountain Goats concert quite like this one. Generally speaking, the fans of the Mountain Goats are universally involved in the show. Sure, they shout out obscure requests but the people at these unique shows are there for the artist, for the music, and for the experience. There’s normally almost no chatter at a Mountain Goats show that’s unrelated to the music. Just listen to the recording we just recently posted from Brooklyn Steel, a large venue with a very large crowd and not a peep during the quiet moments. That Brooklyn crowd was at that show for all the right reasons, and the band seemed to feel it.

At White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, the front half of the crowd was the usual engaged Mountain Goats fans, but the back half of the sold out venue were almost defiantly yapping over the music. It was troubling and odd and I think it knocked the band off a kilter a couple of times. John specifically called out “hey talking guys, I’m trying to play guitar here”. I don’t have any explanation for this crowd that isn’t going to read as arrogant, so I’ll just attribute it to a Friday night, a sold out venue, and too-efficient bartenders.

Sadly, this is the reality for many events these days — the chatterers don’t really care. But this was a really solid show that I’m simply going to have to get over the crowd issues. For devotees to The Sunset Tree, however, this show is a must-listen. Along with regulars “This Year” and “Up The Wolves”, we were treated to infrequently performed versions of “You Or Your Memory” and “Broom People”. The balance of the setlist offered a slate of the new songs (from Goths) performed regularly on this tour and a couple of more surprises — “I’ve Got The Sex” and the return of “Beautiful Gas Mask” to the rotation. There are only three more dates on this tour — so get out and see the band, but please don’t talk over the music!

I recorded this set with the fortunate use of Brandon’s excellent board feed mixed with some of the room mics mounted inside the board area centered in the balcony. Other than the crowd din recognizable during quiet moments, this recording is quite good. Enjoy!

All the stars aligned for this Sunday night return to NYC for the Mountain Goats. On tour in support of their newest release, the excellent Goths (Merge Records) album, the band played their first local shows in over a year and a half. Those legendary 2015 and 2016 City Winery shows saw the Mountain Goats in an intimate setting, but at Brooklyn Steel this weekend the large room afforded the band the opportunity to stretch out. As they took the stage to the dramatic Vivaldi concerto, the Mountain Goats were greeted warmly by the packed room. This was a night when the fans played a truly complimentary role to the music — hushed during the quiet moments and raucous when required, but attentive throughout. There was no idle chatter and virtually none of the persistent shouted requests that sometimes annoy at Mountain Goats shows. Ultimately, the audience was rewarded with a lengthy show featuring stellar performances, a few rare nuggets, and two shout-outs to the crowd from John Darnielle later in the evening.

Goths is essentially a tribute to that early 80s British scene which included Siouxsie, Nick Cave, Peter Murphy/Bauhaus, and Andrew Eldritch/Sisters of Mercy. As with any subject of a Mountain Goats album, the songs are both tributes and explications of the melancholy and loneliness of the lifestyle. “Andrew Eldritch Is Moving Back to Leeds” finds the singer leaving the goth life in Germany and returning with little or no fanfare to the upper Midlands town where the band began. For this particular show “Eldritch” was preceded by the debut of a cover of the Sisters Of Mercy’s 1989 single “Lucretia My Reflection”, performed to perfection in large part because the band’s stage assistant had enough foresight to print and laminate the lyrics in advance. It was that kind of night, as seemingly everything the band did turned out right. John’s three-song solo set featured an infrequent appearance of “Autoclave”, and an exceedingly rare unreleased “Poltergeist”, before the band returned for a powerful second half of the show. The show’s finale was a return of “The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton”, a fun song that I haven’t seen in a few years and which always gets the crowd involved. Sunday night’s show at Brooklyn Steel represented all of the reasons why we keep coming back to see this band, and probably always will.

I recorded this set with the Neumann hypers mounted high inside the soundboard cage and mixed with the a feed provided by the Mountain Goats longtime FOH Brandon Eggleston. Both the room and the feed provided superbly balanced sound, so that this recording is truly a remarkable capture. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER and LEGAL NOTICE

nyctaper.com is a live music blog that offers a new paradigm of music distribution on the web. The recordings are offered for free on this site as are the music posts, reviews and links to artist sites. All recordings are posted with artist permission or artists with an existing pro-taping policy.

All recordings and original content posted on this site are @nyctaper.com as live recordings pursuant to 17 U.S.C. Section 106, et. seq. Redistribution of nyctaper recordings without consent of nyctaper.com is strictly prohibited.

nyctaper.com hereby waives all copyright claims to any and all recordings posted on this site to THE PERFORMERS ONLY. If any artist posted on this site requests that recordings be removed, those recordings will be removed forthwith.